Rise of a Football God

Craven Cottage was again silenced, then the commentator raved.

"What a brilliant goal!" The commentator screamed loudly. "Damn, to execute that when the game is already over for your team".

"Damn! This boy is brilliant!"

"Mamba mentality at its finest!"

"Sam is the Kobe Bryant of football, go argue with your keyboard!"

"Fulham may definitely lose this game but Sam did not lose, he can end this game with his head held high in pride, what a player!"

Craven Cottage was silenced not because of the goal, not because of the fact that it didn't mean much to the overall goal of Fulham as a team since they were still losing 2-3, but simply because of the mentality of their player to execute it.

At 90 plus 4 minutes, they could tell that all their players already gave up in getting a result from this game since they still trailed 1-3 to Aston Villa.

Heck, even the fans themselves already gave up.

But even in this adversity, to still have the presence of mind, willingness, and drive to go for a goal, the fans were astonished at Sam's mentality.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

And then the chants broke out again.

"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"

This was supposed to be a heartbreaking loss for Fulham, having broken their unbeaten streak finally but Sam's performance today felt like a win to the fans.

Sam didn't celebrate his goal, simply pumping a fist to briefly acknowledge the fans before going back upfield to continue the game.

When the referee's whistle sounded, the game only continued for 2 more minutes that were pretty uneventful as Aston Villa resorted to time-wasting till the referee's whistle eventually sounded again for fulltime.

Fulham lost 2-3 to Aston Villa.

Officially, they recorded their first defeat of the 2024/2025 season.

And incredibly, despite being on the losing side this game, Sam won another consecutive man of the match award due to his heroics this game, not only his sheer work rate but his tangible result with a goal and an assist.

When Sam faced the reporters for the post-match interview and he was asked questions, he had only a simple reply for the reporters.

"We will bounce back".

He didn't say more than that, walking out on them for the first time in his career since he didn't feel in a mood to answer questions.

After the game, Coach Marco Silva could not even bring himself to criticize his players, especially Sam. The coach simply patted him on the back, acknowledging his effort in the game.

Before leaving, he looked at his players. "This is a wakeup call for us. We already lost once; do you feel good about it?"

"No coach".

"Do you want to feel this way again?"

"No coach".

"Then work!" This coach's eyes narrowed. "Work your asses off, work like your life depends on it, train! That is the only way to bounce back".

"That is the only way to start winning and keep on winning".

When Sam got back home to his apartment, as soon as he had his bath and laid down on his bed, he got a voice call from a familiar contact.

(Incoming voice call from My Heartbeat…)

Looking at the call contact, he smiled instinctively, already feeling his stress and frustration of today's game partially gone.

He picked up his phone with a big smile. "Hey…"

…

Fulham's next game was another premier league game and it was in 6 days against Everton.

(Premier league:)

(Everton – Fulham)

(Date: 26th October, 2024)

Their defeat in the game against Aston Villa affected the full team, but Sam's defiant performance till the last minute affected them even more.

The team was in a state of uncertainty and sensing it, Cairney, the Fulham captain finally decided to do something since he felt partly responsible for it as the captain. Cairney decided to invite all his teammates for a small dinner party.

Experience exclusive tales on empire

Sam was not used to going to dinner parties, but this time, for the team, he decided to go with his friend, Emile Smith Rowe.

Both of them got dressed in a neat black suit.

In the dinner party, apart from feasting on the delicious meal that Cairney's chefs prepared, the players also got themselves entertained by engaging in a few games, question and answer sessions, and truth or dare sessions.

Of course, even in the games, Sam remained the center of attention.

"Who is the most dedicated player in the club?"

"Sam!" His teammates roared, leaving Sam chuckling as he enjoyed himself.

"Who is the most punctual?"

"Sam!!!" They roared in an incredibly loud voice.

"Who is the most aggressive on the pitch?"

"Bassey, that bastard!"

They laughed.

"Who is the best defender?"

"Bassey!"

"Diop!"

"Castagne!"

"Ok, let's do a poll and see who wins".

After the poll, Diop won over Calvin Bassey by a very tiny margin.

"Who is the best midfielder?"

"Sammmm!!!" They roared again.

"The best striker?"

"Ahem," Cairney coughed, stealing a glance at the 2 main strikers of the team. "I think, let's do a poll".

If it was up to him, he wanted them to skip this phase of the question and answer game session entirely but his teammates would clearly not buy that.

In the end, after a quick poll, despite the fact that Muniz was the more regular starter this season, Raul Jimenez won the poll by a tiny margin.

"Who is the strongest player?"

"Bassey!" They echoed.

"Who is the fastest player?"

"Traore, that monster!" They laughed.

"Who always does too much in training?"

"Sam!"

Sam had to protest this one. "Come on guys, really? Do I do too much in training?"

"Yes!" They laughed. "You bastard, you always play like it's a real game in training, humiliating men grown enough to be your father, you insolent bastard!"

Sam laughed. "Well, it's not my fault if my father is not as good as me".

They all burst into laughter, pointing fingers at Cairney.

In the end, it was a good time out between teammates of a club currently hot in England.

After the defeat against Aston Villa, Fulham was out of the top of the premier league table but they didn't pay attention to it as feeling even more motivated and united, they focused on the Everton game.

"Let's show them hell!"